Craig Jarvis at Under the Dome has an encouraging story on today’s meeting of a special “blue ribbon” commission. The commission is dealing with the issue (highlighted here at NC Policy Watch on multiple occasions) in which the state has been unlawfully warehousing people with mental illness in adult care homes.

“The 32-member Blue Ribbon Commission on Transitions to Community Living met for the first time and spent the day at the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh getting up to speed on several pressing issues.

The state is working toward that goal in an agreement with the federal Department of Justice in order to avoid being sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A federal investigation alleged that the state wrongly confined thousands of people in adult care homes and institutions.

Over the next eight years, the state will work to provide 3,000 places for those people to move into. The Legislature has budgeted $50 million toward the goal, with $10.3 million set aside to establish 100 to 300 slots in the first year. The state Department of Health and Human Services estimates housing, jobs and treatment will cost $287 million over eight years.”